Bathhouses

I have been doing alot of research on HIV/AIDs for my Biology class. I was reading the history of when HIV/AIDs really made a direct hit on the gay community in the 1980s. Well I keep seeing bathhouses. I assumed it is where you would bathe at, but obviously it's also known for a place for men to just go have sex at. Now I know that it was a really big thing to do in the 80s, but are the bathhouses that are still around just as sexual anymore? I have always considered when I get a tid bit older of going to one, just to see what it's like, plus I need a massage, my back is killing me (no sexual puns there either if there is one) it is legitemitely hurting. Anywho, so back to my question, are they just as sexual anymore?

Bathhouses are indeed still alive and well. There are plenty near San Francisco (and elsewhere, but none actually in SF as they were banned precisely because of the HIV scare way back when). Several friends of mine in their early 30's go to Steamworks regularly (and not just for the steam room, for sure), and I honestly cannot see the appeal.

From what I've heard, you're generally unlikely to find many attractive guys there, and if you yourself are young and attractive, do expect to get "eaten alive." I'd also advise staying away. And if you do decide to go, by all means don't let anything near you that isn't wrapped in latex.

I'm gonna agree with everyone here and say that you're too young and pretty for a bathhouse...not that you'd probably get assaulted, but you'd definitely be followed all over the place. If you do want to go to see what it's like, I'd suggest taking a friend that you trust with you to watch your back.

mikes39 saidWear flip-flops, don't touch anything, don't talk or make eye contact and make sure you burn all your clothes before you get home. Oh...and that odor of amyl nitrite...you'll get used to it.

mikes39 saidWear flip-flops, don't touch anything, don't talk or make eye contact and make sure you burn all your clothes before you get home. Oh...and that odor of amyl nitrite...you'll get used to it.

Go once to say you've been, but follow all the advice you've already been given. It's like any Gay bar, minus clothes, plus lube and about three times as many men older than your father wanting to do things to you that cannot be described here.

Oh, and make eye contact with no one, it's like looking a charging bull in the eyes -- you're gonna get the HORN!

I have been attending a local steam room and sauna suite for the past 36 years. It is a public facility which is built as part of a family leisure pool. It is not a venue for sex or hookups. The only malady I might get from visiting this facility is Athletes Foot.Besides, I always believed that HIV/AIDS was caught only through unprotected sexual contact or by contaminated needles.

NotThatOld saidI have been attending a local steam room and sauna suite for the past 36 years. It is a public facility which is built as part of a family leisure pool. It is not a venue for sex or hookups. The only malady I might get from visiting this facility is Athletes Foot.Besides, I always believed that HIV/AIDS was caught only through unprotected sexual contact or by contaminated needles.

There are many many more things that can be caught in a Gay bathhouse besides HIV/AIDS

Yes, they still are all about sex and hook-ups. I've been going to gay bath-houses for years. The nice part about them, for me, is, people go there to have sex, nobody pretends otherwise and since it's 'baths' people take showers before and between hook-ups. As with all sexual contacts there is the danger of STDs. Unfortunately you can't protect yourself against everything, except through abstinence. The only thing I ever caught, which is bad enough, was Syphilis.

This has been in the seediest section of downtown Duluth for decades. Gay men have known about it, since the internet it's become wildly popular; unfortunately, rather than then men they use to advertise it (who aren't gay) most are in for a very rude awakening when they find that 90% of the crowd is over 60, married, obese, smokes a LOT, bottom, lots of back hair, etc...it's not the place full of young guys that you are led to believe in these ads. It's ridiculous. This is the only one left in the state.

The reasoning is this: similar to prostitution, the police and the powers that be in the city figure that, they would rather see the cruising happen in the basement of an old sauna in the 'needle alley' section of downtown rather than see gay men cruising men in family friendly parks, anyplace where there are children (according to the crowd at the baths, that's anyone under 50), the malls, the bus station, etc. This way, everyone who is at the sauna is all there for the same thing, there is no risk for the 'wrong impression', and another often-looked over aspect - personal safety. Picking someone up off the streets and bringing him home opens you up to getting beaten up and robbed; maybe killed. At the baths, it's not the best place, but it's still not your apartment or your house. The gay male community right now is more anonymous than ever, and thats only going to become more so as technology advances. The sex will happen with or without the baths - so why not have a safe middle ground where at the very least both parties physical safety is not in jeopardy? I would rather know they're meeting at the sauna than risking it in needle alley with heroin addicts or beaten up in the sticks.

Miasma saidBathhouses are disgusting and for disgusting people. A very ugly and depraved aspect of the gay world.

I assume you have been to a lot of them then? Otherwise you are passing judgment on people and places you know nothing about.

Bathhouses vary considerably in terms of the clientele, the atmosphere and the cleanliness. They are there to provide a sexual outlet to gay men. They often have fitness facilities, as well as the saunas and showers. But their primary purpose is for men who want casual sex to meet each other.

They have a couple of advantage over bars or internet hook-up.

1. Men are there to have sex, so you don't have to worry about mind games.2. You are not going to take home a psycho for a one night stand. Once the sex is over that is it.

They also have some potential disadvantages. Some of the men that go there are frequent visitors and have probably had a lot of sexual partners. Therefore, the odds of them having a STI are probably higher than someone you meet at a bar or on the internet. You should practice safer sex like you would with guys that you meet at a bar or through the internet.

Also if you are not that attractive or older you may get rejected by other men that you want to have sex with. It can be a harsh environment. But like I said there are no mind games, this is reality at its most basic.

I live beside a gay bathhouse in Toronto. When I workout I can see men of all ages entering and exiting. It does seem to attract an older clientele though. Some bathhouses attract a much younger crowd, it really depends on the establishment.

Bathhouses seem to have made a comeback over the years. In Toronto there are at least 5 I believe, including one outside the gay neighbourhood located in Little Italy. I am pretty sure closeted married men frequent them since they are safer than going to a park and are pretty anonymous.

Frankly to me bathhouses are no better or worse then hooking up with a guy over the internet or at a dance club. Just a different venue. It is still casual sex, and the rules of safer sex still apply.